1 September 2016
Metinvest Group established the Operations Directorate based on its Mining Division and the Metallurgical Division on 1 September. This merger is the final step in Group's process of building a vertically integrated company under the Technological Strategy approved in 2010. The core objective of the transformation is to ensure close cooperation between Group's mining and metallurgical production assets and centralized management of all production processes.
Single management structure for mining and metallurgical entities will allow holistic management of quality across all production stages, starting from overburden removal through the shipment of steel products to customers. Thanks to common quality assessment tools, common accounting policy and standards, it becomes much easier to achieve this.
Yuriy Ryzhenkov, Chief Executive Officer of Metinvest Group:
"We have finalized the process of building a single process chain across Metinvest Group. This will allow us ensuring more careful quality tracking for all types of the company's products, minimize expenses and reduce the production cost. Single management will also balance the investment program, which is especially relevant under the conditions of limited in-house resources and negative global trend in prices of the products of the mining and metals industry.
Alexander Pogozhev, previously the director of the Group's Metallurgical Division, was appointed by Group's Supervisory Board to the position of Chief Operations Officer.
Prior to joining Metinvest Group in 2010, Alexander Pogozhev worked as the Chief Operations Officer of Severstal International (U.S.A.) for two years. Mr. Pogozhev headed the Steel and Rolled Products Division of Metinvest Group for one year, and then he was appointed the Director of Metallurgical Division. The company achieved noticeable progress toward improving the quality of steel products under his guidance. Furthermore, production efficiency increased significantly: the Company gained a financial effect of USD 1.2 billion through the introduction and implementation of the Continuous Improvement System. He also made a considerable contribution to the development and implementation of many environmental programs aimed at improving environmental protection in the cities, where Group's operations are present.
Since 1 April 2016, Alexander has actually led the company's Metallurgical and Mining Divisions and demonstrated high effectiveness and efficiency in managing these divisions.